


Tied to you

by WishaDream



Category: Kaylor - Fandom, Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday Party, Boom!, F/F, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting to know you, Idiots in Love, Love, Love Triangles, Love at First Sight, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Red String of Fate, Romance, Song references, Soul Mate AU, The drama!, True Love, UNCE UNCE UNCE, Unrequited Love, i like to use angst like songs use bass tones, karlie is engaged, let the feels drop, only angst angst angst, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27748306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishaDream/pseuds/WishaDream
Summary: Taylor has the special ability to see the strings of fate connecting people to one another. But though most people would see this as a blessing she has come to despise the gift. Because though love is all around her, she has no string of her own connecting her to anyone.She has all but given up on love when one day she runs into a woman with a golden string. What does fate have in store for them?
Relationships: Karlie Kloss/Taylor Swift
Comments: 33
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Luiza_Pierce](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Luiza_Pierce).



> Luiza_Pierce you asked for a soul mate AU, well here it is. Hope you like it. ^.^

Red was the color of fate.

The color for destiny.

And red was Taylor’s least favorite color.

Everywhere she looked she saw red.

Red strings connecting people across miles. Or when destiny had already brought them together, red that connected couples across inches.

Red bound people together by what the world called fate.

Connected them across space. Across time.

And Taylor was one of the few who could see these connections, these strings. A gift granted by fate for a special purpose.

At first Taylor thought her special sight was a good thing. That’s what everyone said.

“Your daughter can see the red string of fate? She’s so blessed.”

“She must have a special connection with fate.”

“I wish I could see the string. It could help me find my loved one sooner.”

But the older she got the less Taylor felt her gift was a blessing and the more she saw it as a curse.

The first time she considered it a burden was the day her parents divorced.

  
  


It had been coming for a while, but Taylor assured herself that they would never really split up. Their strings were connected and that was enough to make her believe they would stay together.

The red between them vibrated like the constant heartbeat of destiny that connected them. The pulse of the love that remained alive between them.

Then they separated and she realized that even fate could not keep people together.

But the string did not go away. It continued to hang between them, beating like a promise that one day fate would again reconnect them.

And so she waited.

____

Though her parents’ divorce disillusioned her to the red string she continued to believe that it was her fate to help bring people together.

Most people with her talent started their own businesses where people could come to seek help in finding their soul mates. At the age of twelve she did the same, starting her own agency which she named Swift Connections.

It was an easy enough job to tell people yes or no on whether the person they were with was connected to them with the red string of fate. Her business flourished as her reputation grew and she acquired a steady list of customers.

Life continued on. Her parents staying apart, Taylor’s business growing as people continued to search for their soul mate. Then came the day that Taylor learned she had more than just a gift to see the strings.

___

Her parents’ divorce did more than just cause a rift in her view of love and fate; it also caused a fracture in her family.

Her parents could not even stand to be in the same room. Every time they were together their string hung taught between them, taunting her with the reminder that it was still there. That, though they had once been together, they were not together anymore and might never be again.

Red was the reminder of things lost. Of what could have been.

Every time she saw the string she felt like she could hear it humming louder and louder like a taunt “they should be together, but they’re not. They should be together, but they’re not.”

She’d cover her ears, but still she’d hear it, jeering that fate was a joke. A lie. And she was a fool for believing in it.

Even with her eyes closed she could see the red string hanging like a reminder that fate didn’t guarantee one’s happiness. That fate wasn’t enough to keep people together. And her ability to see strings was just fate’s cruel way of reminding people of this.

One day Taylor had enough of the string’s heckling as she let out an anguished cry and charged at it. As she drew close she swung at the string, performing a karate chop as if to cut it.

She didn’t expect to do anything to the string. Though she could see the string no one was actually able to touch them.

But this time, perhaps because of her enhanced emotions, she felt her hand connect with the string as it resisted for a moment before snapping apart like a rubber band. Both ends of the string flew back to their respective person as both her parents went silent.

They had been in the middle of an argument but as soon as their strings broke they went as still as the grave. Then they looked from each other down at Taylor as her mother inquired, “Taylor, what just—what was that? What did you do?”

Taylor felt breathless as she tried to speak. Nothing came out as she her eyes drifted to where the strings had once hung from her parents. The space was empty now.

Her heart stopped completely as she realized the strings that had once connected her parents were completely gone. They were no longer tied to one another. They weren’t tied to anyone.

Was this emptiness around them how the world looked to everyone else—no red strings blocking ones visions of people?

For a moment she thought she might have broken her own sight, but when she looked at her brother she still saw his string fading off into nothing as it stretched across space to his own soul mate.

When she was finally able to put into words what had occurred her parents assured her they felt fine. That nothing seemed off to them. They told her it was probably stress that was preventing her from seeing her parent’s strings.

At her insistence they went with her to see another String Seer across town. A woman whose claim to fame was that she came from a long line of String Seers.

The shop showed signs of having been in a family for generations, shelves filled with various knick knacks and books, walls covered in faded images from people who looked related in various eras of dress.

The current owner of the shop, Ms. Larson, was dressed in the garb of Seers from the last generation wearing bright colored flowing clothing with gaudy jewelry, and wild hair.

But Taylor didn’t care how she looked, or how cluttered her shop was as long as the woman could her that her parents would be okay. That what she knew to be true had happened. That her parent’s strings were gone.

The woman seemed confused about their entrance into her shop.

“What can I help you with?”

“My daughter has string sight,” started her mother.

“Ah, I see. Your family is also blessed with the sight, much like my own. How special.”

Taylor’s mother corrected the woman, “Only Taylor is gifted.

The woman looked confused as Taylor’s mother explained, “Our daughter tells us she broke our connection and now there is no string between us.”

The woman shook her head, “That’s not possible. String seers can’t actually touch the strings. They can only see them.”

Taylor felt like she was hyperventilating as she choked out the words, “But I did touch it and it snapped and now they have no strings connecting them to anyone.

The woman asked Taylor’s parents to come closer.

”Are you sure you had a connection to one another?”

“Yes, we went to a Seer before we were married. But we recently got a divorce and it’s caused our family some stress. Now Taylor is saying she broke our connection.”

The woman had the ex-couple turn around before letting out a deep sigh. Taylor knew what she was going to say before she said it.

“Your daughter is right. There is no longer a string connecting you. There’s no string at all.

“What does this mean?” inquired Taylor.

Had she doomed her parents to a life of eternally being alone?

“What’s going to happen to them?”

The woman shook her head, “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anyone with this ability.”

The woman told them to call her if anything changed, “Though I doubt I’d know what to do if something did happen.”

After that Taylor watched her parents especially close to see if there were any changes. If somehow by severing their connection she had cut their lives short. But her parents lived on as if nothing had changed for them.

They didn’t grow pale or sickly. The only thing that was different was how they acted around one another. They had lost the bite in their voices they had once had when speaking to each other. They seemed more at peace with the fact that they’d ever had a relationship that had fallen apart.

Eventually Taylor decided having severed their string was a good thing for her parents. It allowed them to move on from whatever had once connected them.

From that day on she added to her selling points the ability to cut strings of fate that tied people together. She promised to be able to sever the connections that were making your life unhappy. That were tying you to individuals you no longer wanted in your life.

This got her a whole new clientele with divorcees, eager to end their ties with their exes and move on with their lives. Some even traveled across oceans to have their connections severed.

Seeing all the unhappy couples and how eager they were to forever have their connections ended reinforced in Taylor’s mind that fate was a joke. That nothing really tied people together other than obligation and the misguided belief that there was anything called destiny.

Other people might believe in love and soul mates, but from that point on she decided she did not.

Fate was nothing more than a child’s fairy tale.

An ocean of broken promises and a place she would never go swimming.

____

Divorcees weren’t her only new clientele. Some of her new clients had more tragic reasons for their severing.

Her first case came from a woman named Jodi and her fiancé James.

James had lost his fated love when he was young. His high school sweet heart who had tragically died in a car accident their senior year.

Even though Taylor no longer believed in fate, or especially because she didn’t believe in it, she sympathized with the couple’s plight. She quickly agreed to help as she severed his connection with his lost love. Then to make things easier for the couple she severed Jodi’s connection with the person she had as of yet never met.

The couple looked relieved; especially the man who looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

The exchange only reinforced in her mind that what she was doing was a service long needed. Fate be damned. People should love who they wanted regardless of whether or not they were tied together.

At the end of that day she headed home to find her mother watching a romantic drama. She was at the point in the film where the romantic lead was running through a mall calling out their lover’s name.

Taylor cringed as she inquired, “Why can’t they just wait at their apartment for them to come home?”

Her mother was transfixed by the ridiculous movie as she absentmindedly replied, “Because he wants to be with her right now. He’s decided to take fate into his own hands and go after her rather than wait a moment longer.”

Taylor frowned at her mother’s words.

She also wanted to take fate into her own hands. Take it and rip it out of every facet of the world.

___

Five years passed before Taylor saw Jodi again.

They had passed on the street before the woman had turned back, “You’re the String Seer who severs fate.”

They got to talking and Taylor learned that even with his string severed James had eventually left Jodi.

When Taylor gave her apologies for her severing not helping the woman insisted she wasn’t upset.

“He gave me my daughter.”

“But if I’d never cut your connection you could have met your partner.”

Jodi shook her head with a pleasant smile, “Its fine. I don’t need a romantic partner in my life.”

While the woman seemed fine with her new life, Taylor was less inclined to forgive fate for having screwed her over. It seemed destiny wouldn’t let anyone be happy contrary to what it had planned for them. Anyone who tried would find fate constantly working to pull them apart.

But Jodi didn’t see it that way, “We just stopped choosing one another. We stopped choosing to come back together. Stopped choosing to pick each other over other things. Eventually we drifted apart. It wasn’t fate forcing us apart or together, it was our own choices that did that.”

Taylor just smiled as she let the woman believe what she wanted, but she knew the truth.

Fate was a jerk.

____

When Taylor was younger, before she started her business, she had watched a TV special about String Seers.

She watched the program with rapt attention as she’d never understood the reason behind her special sight. But more than that she wanted to know why, when she looked in the mirror, she was not able to see her own string.

In the interview, the Seer who was the main speaker in the program stated that no Seers had stings. In all the history of time, no Seer had ever seen a string on other Seers.

“Why is that?” inquired the interviewer.

“It’s not known. No one is even sure the reason why Seers are able to see the strings in the first place. But my theory is that we don’t have strings because it would distract us from helping others find their own soul mates.”

“Doesn’t that upset you?”

The man had shaken his head as he replied, “No. It is enough for me that I am a conduit for fate.”

At the time she had seen the program she had been excited at the prospect of helping others. Even if she did not have her own soul mate it was enough to see the joy in other’s eyes when they found their fated one.

As she grew older and more disillusioned she decided that her inability to see her own string was fate’s way of flipping her off. Of forcing her to a life of constant service to other’s and to fate with its various whims.

Finally, she decided it was a kind of blessing.

Even if she could see her own string and find her connection she knew in the end it would lead to heartache.

She was not the only one to notice that fate was not always kind. Even just on the street people could find soul mates yelling at one another. Reports on the news spoke of fate tying victims to their perpetrators.

“They told me our strings were connected, so why does he treat me this way?”

“The couple was connected by fate and yet he was the one to end her life.”

On and on went the tragedies.

The sins of fate.

And so Taylor decided at seventeen that she wanted no part of fate and its twisted games. 

___

The only other Seer who understood Taylor’s disillusionment with fate and her sick games was Florence of Florence against the Machine. She had been a Seer herself, but she’d given all that up to become a singer.

People ridiculed her for this, saying she was wasting her gift. But in an interview Florence said that in the end she was the one who got to decide if she wanted to use her gift. Not the world. Not fate. It was her choice.

“Too many people leave their biggest life decisions up to “Fate.” They say “Fate” led them to this person to be with forever. Or, “Fate” tore us apart. But I think that’s a copout. *I* get to decide if I want to stay connected with this person. I get to decide if we are meant to be.”

Taylor’s mother had also heard the interview as she told Taylor, “It was your father and my choice not to stay together. Our choice to stop loving one another. Our choice to stop putting in the effort.”

Taylor’s jaw had set as she recalled it being her choice to end her parent’s connection. As if sensing where her thoughts had gone, her mother took her hand, patting it gently as she assured her the severing hadn’t hurt them.

‘”If anything it helped us. Helped us work through our feelings quicker so that we could get back to what was most important.”

Taylor’s voice was tight as she choked out the words, “What was that?”

The woman smiled, ‘Being your mother.”

___

The longer Taylor spent helping people find their soul mates the more she realized this wasn’t the life for her. After thirteen years being in the business, she was ready to give it all up. To find a new calling in life.

Sure, she’d still be able to see the strings. That would never go away. But she could learn to ignore the red threads. She might even be able to find a way to sever her own sight like how she severed people’s strings.

But as Florence’s song “What the Water Gave Me,” reminded “Fate’s a cruel mistress and the bargain must be made.”

And while Taylor had resolved to quit the Seer life, Fate had other plans as the very next day the woman with the golden string walked into Taylor’s offices. 


	2. Chapter 2

It was a bright sunny day. Though the air outside was chilly, the blue of the sky and the remaining green of the trees could make one think it was still summer if they were only looking out the window.

Taylor was sitting in her office, music playing softly in the background, as she heard the familiar ding of the door signaling someone had entered.

Usually she put on a bright smile and greeted the person with a welcoming, ‘Hi, I’m Taylor.”

But that day she was not feeling it.

How had she gone on this long in a business she did not even believe in anymore? How did she keep helping people find their soul mates when thought the whole thing was a lie?

Darkness had gathered in her mind, but those clouds were immediately burned away as she saw the face of the woman who had just entered.

Gold hair framed the woman’s face. A face that men would wage wars to bring home. On the face a smile burst forth like sunlight, the sun surrounding the sky which was encased within her eyes.

Taylor watched as the camellia pink lips on the face started to move in a rhythmic dance like they were trying to convey a message through movement.

She realized the lips were in fact moving with words as the sounds of the room returned all at once like the roaring of the ocean in her ears.

“I’m sorry?”

The lips stopped their dance as they stretched in a smile, “Is this Florence against the Machine?”

Taylor nodded dumbly.

“I thought so. She always has such pretty, melancholy melodies.”

If the woman’s face was the sun, her clothes were a rainbow. She was dressed in a faux leather jacket that was colored red, blue, and green, all mixed together like a swirling mix of colors. Her pants were colored in more geometric shapes, white with black lines separating squares of blue and green.

The girl smiled as she noticed Taylor taking in her wardrobe. Bashfully she brushed her hair behind her ear as she explained, “I came here straight from a shoot as this was the best time for Greg and me to do this.”

Taylor didn’t think she looked weird at all. She pulled off the mixture of colors well. But then, Taylor thought, she could probably pull off wearing a pillowed gold dress with large puffy black sleeves.

As Taylor considered all the outfits the woman would look amazing in, she turned to look behind her as Taylor noticed a flash of gold on her back.

The gold wasn’t part of the outfit but came from a string hanging off her back. Not red. Gold. Taylor had never heard of such a thing.

That wasn’t the only strange thing. While red strings could stretch off into forever if the other end was miles away, this one shimmered and shone as it only stretched a short distance from the woman before fading out of existence like an invisible wall had been put up in front of it.

Again Taylor realized a moment after she’d started that the woman was talking. It seemed she was giving introductions as she motioned from herself to the man beside her.

Taylor hadn’t even noticed the man till the woman pointed him out. Compared to the rainbow woman the man was like autumn after all the leaves had lost all their colors and nothing was left but muddy browns.

The man, mediocrity personified, was holding the woman’s hand as they both stared at Taylor expectantly.

His string was red and stretched off to the wall where it fazed through like a video game glitch where objects intersected.

Seeing the string, Taylor realized the reason for their visit without having to hear the introduction. She motioned to the seats in front of her desk as the couple sat down.

The woman took the lead as she related to Taylor the reason for their visit. Again Taylor did not completely hear her as she felt an excited chill run through her body. It was the same chill she got when she was wrapping gifts for her family and imagining how excited they would be. But this excitement was tinged with sadness as her eyes dropped to the woman’s hand. Her fingers, long and elegant like someone who would look radiant playing the harp, were intertwined with the man’s shorter fingers. Fingers which looked clumsy like someone who would have trouble playing guitar.

The woman used her free hand to motion behind her as she said, “You may have noticed I have no string on my back.”

Taylor’s eyes flashed back to the golden string which seemed to wink like “shh, don’t tell her.”

“Uh…huh?”

The woman smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes as she admitted, “I’ve been to String Seers before and they’ve all told me the same thing: I have no string of fate. None of them know what that means except that I’m not fated to find love.”

Taylor’s heart ached along with the break in the woman’s voice. She recognized the ache. It was the same feeling she had when she’d realized her abilities as a Seer came with their own price. A lonely price.

“I had started to believe that I would never find love. But then I met Greg,” the woman looked at the man then, smiling affectionately.

While the man smiled back Taylor felt a sharp pain in her chest like she’d just been stabbed through. The pain traveled away from the wound, coursing through her body like a poison. The poison of jealousy.

The woman held the man’s hand in both of hers as she lifted it to her mouth as she kissed his knuckles.

Taylor felt nauseous.

“We just love each other so much. And I know he has his own fated connection, but we don’t care what fate claims to have in store for us. We love each other and that’s enough for us.”

Taylor’s throat felt tight at the passion in the woman’s voice. She had encountered this kind of passion many times before, but it had never hurt this much to hear the resolve in their voice.

Others had claimed to love each other even though their strings were not connected. Others had come to her to sever the strings which ran parallel to one another. But she had never accepted those jobs before. Love was hard enough without going counter to fate.

Other times it had been easy enough for her to turn them down. But this time the words wouldn’t come like they didn’t even exist. Like she’d never once encountered this before and had no idea how to handle it.

“We heard you have the ability to cut someone’s string and we were hoping you could do that for us,” the woman’s eyes sparkled with hope. With colors Taylor had never seen before.

Again she remembered this was not something she did. But there was something about the woman that would not let her say no.

The woman smiled and Taylor felt a strange pull on her insides, like an invisible string was pulling at her heart, connecting it to this woman.

Though she’d never done it before, she told the woman that in these situations she always had the couples do counseling with her to make sure they were prepared for the ramifications of having their strings cut.

This of course was a lie. She’d never done that with anyone before, though she realized now she probably should have. It might have saved Jodi from her heartache.

“I can’t cut someone’s string without first making sure you two are compatible. It’s hard enough to maintain a connection with someone when your strings are connected, near impossible when you don’t have fate’s blessing.”

The woman nodded as if she understood completely. Beside her the man seemed distracted as he only joined the woman in nodding a moment after he noticed her doing it.

“Fated couples have their own problems so I want to make sure you are ready to face the challenges you will inevitably come across.”

The woman looked determined as she said, “We are ready to face whatever life throws at us. And if you think counseling will help us do that we will be happy be happy to do it.”

“How much is this going to cost?” inquired the man in a dull, dry voice.

Taylor gave them a rough estimate as the man looked to rankle at the sum. The woman patted his hand as she assured him, “one can’t put a price on love.”

The man grumbled something under his breath but looked to give up as the woman asked when they could start.

Taylor’s throat felt tight as she choked out, “When works for you?”

The woman pulled out her phone as she scrolled through her calendar, “Monday next week works for us.”

Taylor nodded as she checked her own calendar on her computer pad, “Alright. What name do I put?”

“Just put Karlie Kloss.”

Taylor’s fingers moved slowly, savoring every letter of the name as they typed it into the calendar.

When she was younger she had watched her classmates write their names in hearts with that of their crushes. For a moment she felt that primal urge as she wondered how her name would look combined with Karlie’s.

Taylor Kloss.

Karlie Swift.

Or what about Kloss-Swift?

Swift-Kloss.

She realized the woman was standing as she gave Taylor their goodbyes.

Her leg bumped against her desk, knocking over a photo frame as she hurried to get around the desk. She intercepted the couple at the door as she extended her hand to Karlie.

She wasn’t usually this eager to shake her client’s hands goodbye, but it was like something else was moving her as she felt a longing to touch the woman, even just for a moment. As soon as their hands clasped she felt a jolt run up her spine. And in the back of her mind she heard the lyrics to a song she’d once heard in a K-Drama.

“You are my destiny!”

Followed by the more practical response, “Fate’s a dick.”

____

Taylor wasn’t sure how she managed to wait till Monday to see Karlie.

It was ridiculous the way she was feeling. A feeling she’d never felt before.

Sure, growing up she’d had crushes. Passing fancies that soon disappeared once she got to know a person.

She told herself it would be the same with Karlie once she spent a little more time with the woman. She would find something about her that turned off her feelings. Some flaw in the woman’s character that made Taylor realize she wasn’t someone worth obsessing over.

Even with that practical thought in mind she found herself thinking about Karlie every moment of the day.

When she was in the kitchen cooking her mind wandered to thoughts of what things Karlie might like to eat. Did she have any food allergies? What was her favorite meal to eat?

Was she the type to eat out more or did she prefer to stay in? Did she cook for herself? Was she the type to follow a recipe to the letter or did she like to experiment with flavors and textures?

Did she prefer cooking or baking?

At night Taylor would lay awake wondering what Karlie’s bedtime habits were. Did she listen to a podcast till she fell asleep? Did she play ocean sounds to drown out the sounds of the city?

When Taylor listened to Florence she thought of Karlie and her gentle smile. What kinds of music did she enjoy? What songs made her get up and dance? Which songs made her cry?

On the couch she watched romcoms with her mom and thought about what kind of shows Karlie might enjoy. Cop procedurals? Sci-fi/fantasy?

Did she ever picture herself in the movie, playing the romantic lead, or the cool action hero?

Everything she did made her think about Karlie. She spent most of her day imagining conversations with the woman. In her mind she shared her favorite songs with Karlie as she pretended to discuss with her the reasons she loved the song so much. At night she invited her imagination to watch movies with her as she had fake discussions about the movie.

But she didn’t want to spend all her time pretending. She wanted it to be real. Wanted to share her favorite things with Karlie and have her share her favorite things with her. She wanted to spend time enjoying the autumn views with Karlie as they discussed the last books they’d read.

She wanted to go on drives with her, getting lost upstate where Taylor would spend too much time at a red light as she got distracted staring at Karlie.

In her mind Karlie was easy to talk to. In her mind they had similar interests which allowed them to converse for hours about the their shared passions.

There would still be things they could share with each other. Books Taylor hadn’t read that Karlie would insist, “You have to read this.” They would exchange baking recipes and when Taylor had trouble mimicking Karlie’s cookies she would invite her over to show her “how it’s done.”

  
  


When Monday finally came Taylor felt like she’d already spent a thousand hours with Karlie. It left her feeling drained and tired and dejected as she knew there was no way Karlie could live up to the version of her that Taylor had created in her mind.

They had agreed to meet up at a coffee shop. A public area that had a chill atmosphere where they could just talk and not feel any pressure to be someone else.

“For this to work I need to witness your authentic selves.”

She expected to be the first one to arrive at the shop, two people taking longer to get to a location than one. But when the bell on the door rang and she stepped inside she was surprised to find the sunbeam person already waiting inside.

That day Karlie was dressed more subtly, wearing a brown faux shearling moto jacket over a black turtleneck. Her jeans were faded but more like a fashion choice than because they were old.

She hadn’t yet noticed Taylor, her eyes fixed on the book she was reading. Her lips were slightly moving as she silently read. One long leg was tucked under her chair, the other had the heel of her boot resting on the bar connecting the table legs.

It took great effort for Taylor to tear her eyes away from the woman as she scanned her eyes across the room. It wasn’t a big room, filled with a few tables and the barista counter. It only took a cursory glance to find Karlie’s companion was not with her.

“Where’s Greg?”

Karlie looked surprised as she lifted her eyes to find Taylor standing at the table. “Oh, I—he couldn’t make it today. He had an important meeting.”

Taylor wanted to say, “More important than this,” but she just nodded as she took the seat across from Karlie.

“I considered rescheduling,” started Karlie as if she felt like she had to explain, “but you said you wanted to get to know us so I thought half a couple is better than nothing.”

Karlie looked cute as her smile stretched to the side in a sheepish grin.

Taylor’s heart wanted to scream, “Of course it’s okay. I don’t care if Greg ever shows up.” But she tamped down the organ this was not a date. Karlie was a client.

A very, very pretty client.

Karlie had waited to order her drink as they left the table to place their orders before heading back. The book was laying cover up on the table as Taylor took a moment to note the title.

As Karlie noticed her looking she inquired, “Is it any good?”

“It’s a little dry at points, but a friend recommended it. They insisted that since I liked Austen I’d enjoy this writer as well.”

Taylor laughed as she could read the answer to her next question off Karlie’s face already, “And are they as good?”

Karlie let out some low rumbling “mm” sounds as her mouth shifted from side to side. Finally she settled on a verbal response as she said, “They’re not my cup of tea.”

Taylor chuckled lightly before asking, “When you say Austen, do you mean Jane?”

Karlie perked up, “Yes. I just love the way she writes her characters. They all have such interesting personalities and quirks, but all feel so real not like some characters in a novel.”

“Which book of hers is your favorite?”

Karlie’s eyes shifted to the side as if she felt guilty to say, “I’m going to have to go with the stereotypical answer of Pride and Prejudice. It’s just so-o good. And Mr. Darcy, he is the perfect romantic protagonist. He has his flaw, but they don’t outweigh his virtues. And Elizabeth is such a strong female character for her time. Even by today’s standards she is a strong female lead.”

They talked for a time about the various iterations of Pride and Prejudice from books like the novel to all the various film representations.

“If you have the time you have to watch the BBC 1997 version with Colin Firth.”

“Of course.”

“And though it took me a while to really appreciate it, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is also good.”

“I think Jane Austen would have enjoyed it.”

Karlie laughed as she took a sip of her iced coffee with almond milk. “To shift gears, I had been wanting to ask you about String Seers.”

Taylor motioned for her to go on as she took a sip of her own drink. She had opted for a pumpkin spice latte that day. She figured since it was the season for the drink she might as well take advantage.

“I saw a program once where they mentioned that Seers can’t see their own strings. When I saw it I thought that might be the case with me, that I was another Seer who just didn’t have a string. But then I wasn’t able to see anyone else’s either.”

Taylor nodded as Karlie paused as if to let her voice her own experience, “It didn’t take my parents long to figure out that I had the sight. In my drawings of the family I’d always draw the string connecting my parents and the string that hung off my brother. At first they just thought I was drawing what I’d heard other people talk about, how everyone had a red string. But then they noticed I never drew a string on myself. That’s when I told them I was the only one that didn’t have one. It was after that they found out I had the sight.”

Karlie shook her head, sounding bitter as she said, “It upset me to hear that fate had planned for some people to always be alone. Maybe I wouldn’t have minded so much if I’d also had the sight. Then I could help other people find happiness.”

Taylor’s eyes dropped to the table as she pressed her lips together. She did not want to tell Karlie that it did not actually help. For a time it filled the hole, but eventually the hopes and dreams of others fell away, pulling down the sides of that hole, making it bigger.

Karlie’s brow was pinched as she looked to be putting on a brave face as she admitted, “It was really hard when I was young. My classmates would go on about their futures when they would find out who they were fated to marry. And there I was without a string to connect me to anyone.”

Her memories took Taylor back to her own time in school when she was constantly reminded of other’s romantic futures. Every red string filed with the promise of tomorrow’s love. And then there was her, with nothing tied to her except an empty heart and a lonely fate.

“What even is fate?” inquired Karlie with a bitter bite to her words, “I don’t like the idea of being destined to be with someone like you don’t have any choice in the matter. No matter what you are going to meet this person and you are going to fall in love whether you like it or not.”

“But fate says you will like it.”

Karlie snorted, “That doesn’t sound appealing to me. When I was younger I hated not having a string, but now I’m grateful. It taught me that love is not about a string. It’s about making a decision. I decide who I am going to fall in love with.”

She smiled, getting that dreamy look in her eyes as she said, “Greg feels the same as me. We have both chosen to love each other despite the strings that tie us to other fates.”

Taylor’s eyes drifted to Karlie’s string, which glimmered tauntingly.

What did it mean?

“I really respect that,” stated Taylor as she turned her eyes back to the woman’s face, “I think that’s a good attitude to have.”

“What about you?” Have you ever felt like falling in love or finding someone who would be willing to sever their string for you?”

Taylor took a sip of her coffee before answering.

“No. I’ve been focused on helping others. I might have considered looking when I got older, but then my parents got divorced and I’ve become disillusioned to the whole thing.”

Karlie frowned sympathetically, “I’m sorry.”

Taylor shrugged like it didn’t really bother her anymore. But that was a lie.

“Love seems like a hassle anyway.”

A week ago she would have meant it. She would have believed it. But since meeting Karlie she wished to experience everything love promised. The late nights talking on the phone. The early mornings preparing a picnic for a meal you’d share together later in the day. The matching outfits. The dumb inside jokes.

Karlie must have known all of that with her feelings for Greg.

The thought made Taylor sick.

“It’s not going to be easy,” stated Karlie sagely, “Nothing is easy. Sometimes getting out of bed is the worst thing in the world, but we still do it. But we choose to get up and go about our day. And I believe the only reason we can do that is because of our love for another. For our family. Our friends. A precious pet. We all have someone who gives our life purpose. That’s the string that everyone has, even me, connections which remind us we are not alone. Not all of them have to be romantic.”

Taylor felt her skin prickle in the place Karlie touched her hand, “I know your ability has made it hard for you to see the good in connections, but I hope someday you can find that person who makes your days better.”

She smiled and Taylor was reminded “Fate could be so cruel.”

___

At the end of the their coffee date that wasn’t a date, Karlie told Taylor, “If you like Jane Austen there is a book by another author that I really enjoyed.” She gave Taylor the title as she added, “Have you seen Austenland?”

Taylor shook her head.

“Seriously? I don’t want to oversell it, but it’s so good. You should totally see it. If you want, but it would be so cool if you did. I’d love to have someone to talk about it with.”

Taylor’s pulse spiked at the idea of sharing something with Karlie.

At the end of the day she realized she had actually been wrong in her imaginings about Karlie. The woman was actually better than she’d imagined.

This made Taylor miserable. Karlie was supposed to become less perfect the more time she spent with her as she was unable to live up to Taylor’s unrealistic dreams about her. Instead she’d surpassed every one.

Instead of resolving to stay away from the girl, Taylor found herself calling up Karlie to set up another meeting. Karlie informed her that her and Greg had an upcoming event they would be attending together.

“You should come. It would really give you a chance to see both of us in our element.”

She invited Taylor to a charity event Greg’s family would be hosting at a mini-golf course.

Taylor met the couple outside the putt-putt course. It was a warmer fall day which was perfect for the outdoor event. Several families were already heading inside as Karlie greeted each of them with a bright smile as she directed them where to go. Beside her Greg looked indifferent to the whole thing.

Once Taylor arrived Karlie left the greeting job to someone else as the three headed in together.

“I’m going to get something to drink,” stated Greg as he headed off to the bar.

Karlie noticed Taylor’s expression as she explained on his behalf, “Greg’s family is from money so they are always throwing fundraising events like this. He’s a little burnt out, but I think we can all still find something to enjoy.”

She smiled brightly like nothing in the world could dampen her light, not even the raincloud that was her future husband.

Taylor saw even more families already inside the event, laughter filling the air as children ran about the various courses. The theme of this putt-putt course seemed to be famous structures of the world. There was the stereotypical Holland windmill with fake tulips planted around it. There was the Eiffel Tower which had mini flood lights pointed up at its peak. Across from that there was the Empire State building with a giant gorilla at its top swinging at planes attacked to the building by thing metal connections.

“What are they raising money for?”

There didn’t appear to be any sick kids around. The only thing she noticed was the diverse family structures.

Karlie smiled as she explained, “It’s for foster care. All these families are foster or adoptive families. We’re working to make it easier and safer for kids to find their forever home.” Her mouth scrunched to the side with her final words, “No, wait, that makes it sound like they are puppies. But you know what I mean.”

Nearby a group of kids ran past, letting out squeals of excitement as they went.

Greg had started to come back over with a drink in hand. As soon as he saw the kids running in circles around Karlie and Taylor he did a 180 and walked right back to the bar.

Karlie saw this, her smile tight as she motioned to the side, “Do you want to play a round?”

Off to the side there was a rack of putters with a bucket full of various colored balls. Taylor grabbed a putter and a purple ball. Not red. Never red.

Karlie dug around in the bucket for a time before pulling out an orange ball. She smiled triumphantly as she held up the ball, “Doesn’t it remind you of a sunset? Sunset is my favorite color.”

Her smile faltered as her eyes flicked over to Greg for a moment, “I know that’s not technically a color but a mixture of them, but I—I don’t see why one has to pick one when there are so many great colors and shades of colors.”

Taylor put her at ease with a smile as she told her, “I also like the colors of the sunset. Sunrises are also pretty. I see a lot of them, because I wake up in the middle of the night gripped by some idea and before I know it the sun is coming up.”

Karlie laughed along with her as they headed to the first hole, “I’ve had mornings like that. An idea wakes me up and I can’t get back to sleep until I’ve done something about it.”

They paused the conversation as Karlie bent her head, looking down at the hole from her position at the top of the green. While most of the people there were dressed in casual clothes, like jeans and t-shirts, Karlie had opted for a more “traditional” look. Light blue and red argyle shorts with dark blue polo top. She was even wearing a visor though the event was taking place in the evening just at sunset.

Oranges and purples were already filling the sky, mixing with reds and the yellow of the sun as it sank beneath the horizon. Above them the course lights came on as the air started to buzz with the sound of electricity.

The lights shining down gave Karlie a kind of halo as her hair seemed to shimmer like her string as it shifted back and forth on her shoulders. That day she had pulled it back into a ponytail that moved with her as she swung her club.

She looked proud at how far she’d hit her ball, getting it to stop a foot from the hole. She turned back, giving Taylor a playful smile as she said, “Your turn.”

Taylor heard the challenge in the woman’s tone as she felt her body buzz with the energy of competition. Even with a jacket on she felt a chill run through her body as she passed Karlie.

Her hands shook as she gripped the club, doing her best to focus on the ball as she practiced her strokes. She could feel Karlie’s eyes on her. Could feel the girl’s presence like she was putting out waves of electricity.

Before she could take her shot a group of kids ran onto the green, too distracted with their game to notice they’d gotten in the middle of someone’s game.

“Sorry,” Karlie apologized like they were her kids as she started over to tell them to leave.

Taylor touched her arm on her way past.

“It’s okay. They are having fun and they’re not bothering me.”

Karlie looked relieved as if she was used to having to tell people off on someone else’s behalf.

Taylor frowned as her eyes drifted back to Greg. He was having a beer, while chatting with the dads who had gathered at the bar. He looked bored as his eyes kept drifting to the entrance of the place like he was just waiting for an excuse to present itself so he could leave.

His fiancée on the other hand looked like she was in her element as she’d joined the kids in their game while Taylor had had her back to her. At that moment Karlie was running after the kids who were laughing and letting out playful shrieks. As she chased them Karlie flopped her arms around like wet noodles as she tried to grab at the kids closest to her.

Eventually she grabbed one of them, letting out a sound like squelch as the kid acted like he was struggling to break free of her arm as it “stuck” to his body.

“Ah, the octopus has got me,” called out the child as they reached out to their friends in hopes of being pulled free.

As one kid pretended to fight off Karlie’s other “tentacle” with their golf club sword, the other grabbed their friend, pulling them free as Karlie let out a sound like the action had angered her. The sound she made resembled someone trying to sound like a turkey underwater. Taylor covered her mouth as she started to laugh.

Karlie heard the sound as her head snapped around, a smile beaming from her face as she saw Taylor.

“Oh, sorry, I just somehow got dragged into this.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Did you want to join us?”

Taylor hemmed and hawed as she wasn’t sure she wanted to make a fool of herself running around the event. As if sensing her hesitation, Karlie started to stalk towards her in a kind of crabwalk as she waved her arms above her like an inflatable tube man.

“Come on, Taylor. Join us.”

The kids stopped running from Karlie as they joined her in eerily stalking towards Taylor as together they all chanted, “One of us. One of us.”

Taylor let out a laugh and then heard herself squeal as she turned and ran as Karlie and the kids gave chase.

Several adults watched the strange group of adults and children run around, some watching with amused smiles, while others, like Greg, looked annoyed.

At one point, as Karlie ran past him, he grabbed a hold of her arm as he stopped her. Taylor was too far from the pair to hear what he was saying, but from the tight way his mouth moved she imagined he was telling the woman to stop “making a fool of herself.”

Karlie’s light dimmed as her six foot frame suddenly looked smaller.

She walked over to the group looking like a child whose parents had just told them it was time to go home. Taylor expected her to tell them that Greg had told her “I can’t play with you anymore” instead Karlie inquired, “Did you all want to do something else?”

“Like what?” inquired one of the smaller children.

“Can you do magic?” asked a little girl.

The other kids looked at the pair in wide eyed wonder like they expected one of them to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Karlie laughed, “No, but uh,” her eyes shifted towards Taylor as if asking her permission. Taylor shrugged, “Taylor here can see people’s strings.”

The kids all let out amazed “wows” as their large eyes focused on Taylor. She felt like a fish at a seal show.

“Can you see my string?” inquired the girl who’d asked about the magic.

Taylor nodded.

“What shade of red is it?”

“Um, like autumn leaves.”

“What about mine?” inquired a small boy.

All of them asked her to check the color of their strings as she assured them, “They are all the same shade of red.”

“What about you? What color is my string?”

Karlie held up her hands as the kids all looked at her, “I don’t see other people’s strings. But I’m sure all Seers see the strings as the same shade of red.”

“What do they feel like?” asked a kid as they all turned their attention back to Taylor.

“Seers can’t touch the strings,” answered another kid, “Otherwise they’d always be getting tangled up in them.”

“Is that true?” asked another little girl.

Taylor nodded, “Most Seers can’t touch the strings. But when I really, really want to, I can touch people’s strings and make them disappear.”

She expected the kids to react with fear as they ran back to their parents, instead they moved closer.

“What do the strings feel like when you touch them?”

“Have you cut very many strings?”

“What does it feel like for the people whose strings you cut? Do they drop to the ground like when puppet gets their strings cut?”

Karlie looked amused as Taylor was bombarded with even more questions. Seeing Karlie cover a smile she gave her a frown like “Does my pain amuse you?” which got her an airy laugh as reply.

By the time she got home Taylor was exhausted. Tired, but happy. Happier than she’d ever been before.

As she drifted off to sleep that night she wondered if Karlie had had as good a time as her. She recalled Karlie’s smile and the sound of her laugh. The memory led to questions of whether or not the woman was thinking of Taylor in that moment. If she was missing her.

With that Taylor came completely awake, her exhaustion pushed out by a rush of adrenaline as she came to a horrible realization, “I am in love.”

____

The next time Taylor saw Karlie was by coincidence. She was out getting groceries for the week when she ran into the woman standing in the middle of the aisle comparing boxes of pasta.

That day she was dressed in black pleather pants with a dark blue peacoat with a sandy grey wool sweater and darker grey beanie. She looked like a fisherman stocking up before a long voyage.

“Karlie?”

The woman smiled as she spotted Taylor, “Oh, hi.”

Taylor leaned on the bar of her cart as she inquired in a western drawl, “What brings you here to this here establishment?”

Karlie chuckled as she also leaned onto the bar of her cart. With her long legs she looked awkward, like a baby giraffe trying to stand up, “Well, I reckoned I’d come and get some vittles to whip together for my man.

Taylor felt her hand grip the bar tighter as her heart spasmed. Her smile faltered for a moment before regaining some semblance of its previous playful nature, “Oh, you have a special night planned or something?”

Seeing Taylor had dropped the game Karlie straightened, regaining her previous regal height, “Yeah. I thought I’d make a nice meal we could enjoy together when he gets off work. He’s been pretty busy lately so I wanted to do something special.”

Taylor’s face felt tight so that she found it hard to smile without feeling like her skin might tear, “That’s…really nice. What are you planning on making?”

Karlie started to tell her but Taylor wasn’t listening. It was hard to hear anything over the ringing in her ears. Over the sobbing of her heart as it held its knees and rocked back and forth.

Karlie was with Greg.

Karlie was with Greg.

This repeated over and over in her mind as her heart pounded painfully in sync with the reminder.

Karlie already had someone special in her life. She had already chosen the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. The one she wanted to make special meals for. The one she wanted to start a family with.

Taylor hadn’t missed her chance--she hadn’t had a chance. The decision was made long before she’d entered the arena.

“I’m sure he will really like that.”

Karlie returned Taylor’s smile, “I hope so. It *is* his favorite.”

Taylor felt like crying as she made up an excuse to leave. She didn’t feel like finishing her trip. She just wanted to leave the cart and head home to listen to Adele songs and eat ice cream.

But this wasn’t a movie and she had to go on with her life, even when she’d like nothing better than to curl up into a ball and die.

Love could be so dramatic. And she was not one for dramatics. 

  
  


Somehow she managed to get all the things she needed, check out, and get home. As soon as she was through the door everything shut down as she sank to the ground where she lay face down on the carpet.

Ten minutes later her mother walked into the room, sounding worried as she inquired if everything was alright.

“No.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Not physically.”

Her mother sounded confused, “Then what are you doing on the floor.”

“Waiting to melt into it.”

Okay, maybe she was a little dramatic.

___

Taylor and Karlie spent another counseling session alone together as Karlie’s fiancé yet again had something else “more pressing” to keep him from joining them.

That day they’d met at a bookstore that had a mini coffee shop. They grabbed their cups then headed off to a nook near the magazine rack as they flipped through the pages of various magazines. Karlie migrated to the fashion and cooking magazines as she pointed out her favorite outfits and recipes to Taylor. Taylor grabbed the music magazines, cooking, and home life magazines. In them she pointed out the various decorations she’d like for her future home.

They spent at least thirty minutes talking about kitchens and how they’d want their dream kitchen to be set up and what they would fill it with.

The talk reminded her of their encounter at the grocery story as Taylor asked Karlie how the meal had gone.

“Oh, um,” Karlie pressed her lips together pensively before replying, “He got home late. He was so busy he didn’t even have time to text me to let me know. But he enjoyed the leftovers.”

Taylor could tell she was putting on a brave face as she tried not to let on how upset she was. Or maybe Taylor was wishing that she was upset. That this was a sign that there was trouble in paradise. But if she cared about Karlie she shouldn’t be rooting for her relationship to fall apart.

Taking a breath, she evened out her emotions as she told Karlie, “I’m sorry. But hey, next time just call me. I’d be happy to eat your food.”

Karlie laughed as she inquired, “Would you rather come over to my place to eat or have me bring it to you?”

“You mean like a delivery service? That sounds pretty nice. How much do you charge?”

“Oh, you couldn’t afford me.”

The two laughed as this as they continued to talk about food as they exchanged their favorite recipes.

At the end, before leaving, Karlie turned back as if she’d just remembered something.

“I’m having a big birthday party this weekend. Would you be able to make it?”

She almost said yes, but stopped herself as she admitted, “I try to avoid group settings because seeing all those red strings clumped together can be overwhelming. And then there is always someone there who recognizes me and I end up having to answer people’s questions about their strings for the whole night. Sure, I get new clients, but at what cost?”

Though she looked disappointed, Karlie nodded as she said, “I understand.”

And that was that.

Until Friday when Karlie texted her, “I have a plan that just might make it less of a bother for you to come. Can you at least come by for a few minutes to see if it works?”

She wasn’t sure why she agreed, but Saturday came and she found herself standing outside a ritzy mansion. The building looked like a place they would have visited on lifestyles of the rich and famous with its marble pillars and water fountain sitting in the middle of the driveway.

Karlie’s text directed her to meet her at the back. There she found Karlie waiting for her dressed in a terrycloth robe with her long hair done up in a braided bun at the back of her head, giving her a look like a ‘20s era bob. The hairstyle was highlighted with a diamond studded headband with a broach attached near the temple with string of diamonds hanging down like silver string. Two black feathers were also tucked into band just above the broach.

Today Karlie’s camellia lips were painted red like satin.

Again Taylor noticed them dance before she realized they were moving with words.

“—masked ball. I think it still fits with the whole Gatsby theme. And it should help you hide your identity.”

Taylor blinked, not completely sure how to respond.

“I was thinking you could wear these to help with the string sight,” Karlie held out a pair of sunglasses with red tinted lenses, “I read online that some String Seers wear these. Over in Asia the population density is so high it helps them not get so overwhelmed.”

Behind Karlie strings had been stretching out from those already inside. When she put the sunglasses on the strings went away, the only one remaining being the gold string on Karlie’s back.

The gold shimmered like a wink.

Karlie looked expectant as Taylor realized she was waiting to hear if the glasses had worked. When Taylor said they had the girl let out an excited squeal as she clapped her hands together as she took a moment to bounce in celebration.

“That’s great. And now for part two. I was thinking we could put you in a disguise so no one would even recognize you as Taylor Swift. In fact, I was thinking for the night you could be someone else.”

Taylor’s heart fluttered at the idea of being someone else. Someone who could hold Karlie’s hand forever.

“How do you like the name Betty Davis? I was thinking I could say you’re my friend from work.”

Taylor didn’t have a chance to respond as Karlie pulled her into the home through the back entrance.

Even the back hallway of the home was grand with plush red carpet and a hall lined with gold framed paintings and mirrors which showed Taylor her face was glowing red.

She let her smile fade as she told Karlie, “You have a lovely home.”

Karlie smiled back as she said, “It’s not actually mine. I’m renting it for the party. But it is lovely, isn’t it?”

They paused for a moment to take in the entryway. There was a crystal chandelier and a marble double staircase with gilded banisters.

“They host roaring 20s parties here all the time. They even do a murder mystery party around Halloween.,” she practically glowed as she said, “I’d like to try that next year,” if Taylor hadn’t been watching her so closely she might not have noticed the way the girl’s smile faltered as she said, “Greg doesn’t really like this kind of stuff, but I’d been planning to do this for my 22nd for years.”

Taylor frowned as she considered how easy it would be to find something to enjoy about the day as long as Karlie was there. Surely it should have been no problem for someone who claimed to love Karlie so much to find something to enjoy about being in her life. Even if the party wasn’t his thing, wasn’t it enough to do something he knew Karlie would enjoy immeasurably

“The dressing rooms are up here,” said Karlie as she motioned up the double staircase that split at the landing like the Beauty and the Beast staircase. “People will be arriving in half an hour so you should have plenty of time to get done up.”

She gave her a smile before leaving her in a room with a makeup artist and hairstylist. Twenty five minutes later she heard the chatter of those who had arrived early as they gushed over the house and its decorations.

It ended up taking forty minutes for Taylor to get her hair, makeup, and costume ready. The hairstylist had done her hair in waves then tucked the length under so it looked like she had a chin length haircut. Her headband was black lace with a peacock feather pinned with a silver broach at the temple.

The dress had a plunging neckline that had a covering of sheer white chiffon over the exposed area. The rest of the dress was peacock blue with a fringe that hung down the length of it stopping just above her knees. On her shoulders she wore a feathered capelet that only covered her shoulders and back. It was made up of downy feathers that were teal and cobalt.

The whole thing was finished with a mask that kept with the peacock motif. It was a gold and blue domino mask with a headdress of peacock feathers. It wasn’t something that would help with not standing out, but looking at herself in the mirror she was sure not even her mother would recognize her. The feathers did a good job of distracting you from the rest of Taylor’s face.

Once ready she headed out of the dressing room, heading down the hall that led to the entry staircase. At the top of the stairs she paused for a moment to take in the room below. The entry way was large enough for a small crowd to have gathered, several congregating around the champagne fountain located at the center of the room.

Everyone was dressed similarly to Taylor. There was a woman with a phantom mask that was made up of silver filigree with the glint of diamonds worked into some of the swirls. She was talking with a man with a gold metal mask with intricate cut outs.

Near them a group of people had opted for the more common masquerade masks with feathers and animal shaped themes to the colors and design.

But most had gone for something more grand, like a man with a Venetian style mask, half blue and black with filigree swirls that were shaped into the wing of a butterfly wing which stretched beyond the confines of the mask. There was even a mask with two large horns like a bull, with the mask being made up of black and brown feathers.

Some of the masks were turned towards her as she realized she’d lingered too long. Best not to stand out even with the safety of her disguise.

She started down the stairs, pausing on the landing as the glistening crystals of the chandelier caught her eye. The eyes that had been watching her were turned away now as she used her pause to take another look over the crowd of partygoers.

It was amazing how well the red lenses blocked out the strings. She couldn’t see a single one coming from any of the mask figures.

At this thought a glint of gold caught her eye, drawing her eyes back across the crowd to the back of a woman chatting with a group of people.

The woman’s dress didn’t look historically accurate as far as Taylor knew, but it managed to take her breath away as she found herself transfixed by it.

The dress was skintight, made of black lace in a flower pattern. Long sleeves hugged the woman’s arms, triangling out as triangle cuffs on the back of her hand. The see through lace also covered the woman’s back, the bear skin seeming to say she had nothing to hide.

Taylor’s breath hitched with that promise as the woman turned, the front of her dress sporting the black lace over a crème colored satin.

Taylor’s breath shivered through her body as she exhaled. Karlie looked amazing in her black lace dress. And she looked to know it as she strutted across the room, moving to meet Taylor at the base of the stairs.

“I’m so glad you are here.”

She sounded sincere as Taylor searched her face for any deception. Even with her mask Taylor could tell Karlie was genuine.

Her mask was made up of black lace which fitted to her face, doing little to hide her identity. But she did not have a reason to hide herself. Not like Taylor. Though the lace looked light, it was heavy enough to hold a burst of black feathers that came off it on the side opposite to the two on the headband.

As she noticed Taylor studying her outfit, Karlie performed a little twirl. Seeing it all together along with the black feathers, Taylor thought she might be going for the look of a raven.

“There’s even a cape,” stated Karlie with a bright smile, “But I’ll wear that later in the night.”

As if suddenly nervous, Karlie reached up to play with the pearls at her neck. They were black pearls.

Karlie was a raven and Taylor a peacock. It sounded like the beginning of a dark children’s story.

The lace raven had invited the shy peacock to her birthday party. Hesitantly the peacock accepted, unsure what reason the raven could have for inviting her.

Everyone else envied the peacock because of her beauty, a beauty the peacock had come to despise. But the raven had her own reason to sorrow as everyone feared her because of the superstition about ravens being harbingers of death.

Karlie brought Taylor back to reality as she took her hand, guiding her through the crowd as she led her over to a group of people, “Everyone, this is my friend Betty. Betty these are my friends.”

She introduced each of them as they greeted Taylor with bright smiles. None of them showed any signs of recognizing her.

Taylor wasn’t conceited. Her face was on several billboards. But no one even made the insinuation of, “Hey, you kind of look like that girl from the billboards.”

Taylor relaxed as she started to enjoy the party. Even though Karlie had introduced her friends to Taylor and they’d started to hit things off as they joked about various subjects, Karlie did not leave her side. Whenever she left a group of friends to check on another one she’d take Taylor’s hand, taking her with her as she made her rounds.

Several people wished Karlie a happy birthday, as some added an extra congratulations for her upcoming nuptials.

Karlie was gracious to everyone, even those who voiced concerns about Karlie not having a string connection with Greg.

“We love each other and are willing to put in whatever extra work needs to be done.”

She squeezed Taylor’s hand then, giving her a conspiratorial wink as if she was thinking of their counseling. But all Taylor could think was how she needed Karlie to never wink at her again for fear her heart would explode. Just the one wink had sent such a shock through her system she wasn’t’ sure how she was still alive.

Of course when one person brought up soul mates others eventually joined the conversation as a debate started on the various problems with the idea.

Taylor found herself joining in on the side set against soul mates as she said, “The problem with people finding their soul mate is they think after they find them they don’t have to do any more work. They think the only effort comes from finding the person. But to love is to constantly be putting in an effort to care. To build a life together. And you can’t just think that once you’ve found them you are both ready for marriage. First you have to get to know them. And then you have to keep doing that, because a person is always changing. They are never the same person you met yesterday. And after years of being together they are a completely different person from the one you met all those years ago.”

Karlie nodded as she added, “Just as you chose to pursue them, you choose to stay with them and to love them.”

Choose.

There was that word again.

As Karlie’s friends started into the philosophical implications of soul mates, Karlie got Taylor’s attention as she motioned to the side with her head. Following her, Karlie led her off to another room where band music was playing over a speaker as people danced.

Karlie was beaming as she motioned for Taylor to join her as she started to perform a jazzy number to go along with the big band beats. Taylor heard herself laugh, Karlie’s exuberance being contagious as she joined her on the dance floor. The fringe around their legs swayed along with them, spraying out like ocean spray as they kicked up their legs while laughing uproariously.

Neither of them really knew what they were doing, but they had fun with it as Taylor’s heart spiked each time Karlie took a hold of her hand.

In the background “Wicked Game” played in a 20s nightclub rendition.

_“Oh, I don’t want to fall in love. (This world is only going to break your heart.) With you.”_

The melody was haunting, the lyrics melancholy. It didn’t fit with the rest of the songs that had been playing but allowed the dancers to slow down as everyone started to slow dance.

Taylor expected things to end there as she started to shuffle off the dance floor. A hand on her wrist stopped her as she looked back to find Karlie giving her a questioning look.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Karlie pulled her in, making Taylor’s pulse spike.

As the music continued to play she let herself get lost in it as she slid her arms around Karlie’s waist. It was instinctual and it wasn’t until her fingers were intertwined behind the other woman’s back that she realized the danger she was in.

But Karlie didn’t seem to mind as she rested her arms on Taylor’s shoulders, her arms around her neck so she felt like she was wearing Karlie like a necklace.

The thought made Taylor breathless as she took a breath to clear her head. The breath was full of Karlie, her scent reminding Taylor of Christmas. Her head swam as the lights around them sparkled like stars which twinkled in the blue of Karlie’s eyes. Eyes which looked then like blue flames.

Those flames were fixed on Taylor, burning her up from the inside out. Then the flames torn away as she felt the girl’s hands slide free of hers.

Taylor turned, following Karlie’s movements with her eyes as she watched her head over to Greg. Karlie looked happy to see him as she hugged him. He looked less happy as he sourly let her kiss him on the cheek.

It looked like she asked him what had taken him so long, the question looking to annoy him as he pushed her away.

Just then “Somebody else” by 975 started to play.

Taylor had moved closer then as she heard Greg make the exasperated excuse, “You know this isn’t my thing.”

_“I don’t want your body but I hate to think about you with somebody else.”_

Karlie’s brow furrowed, “I know, but it’s special to me. I thought you could at least try to enjoy it for me.”

Greg let out a heavy sigh as his head dropped to the side. Karlie pulled back, her nose wrinkling as she leaned in to whisper, “Are you drunk?”

He rolled his eyes, “What if I am?”

Karlie’s jaw flexed as she looked to the side for a moment. Unlike before, her eyes seemed to go through Taylor as she took in the rest of the crowd.

Turning back she took a hold of Greg’s arm as she whispered, “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

With a tired groan he let her pull him off to another room as Taylor felt her heart drop.

It was then she realized she shouldn’t have come. She had actually forgotten that he’d be there, ruining her good time. But she didn’t really have a right to complain. He had been there first.

The lucky bastard.

He had the prettiest girl there waiting for him. Longing to see him, and there he was acting like it was a burden. Like he’d completely forgotten that she was a priceless jewel. That there was no one else out there like her in the entire world.

And she wanted him.

The cubic zirconia of people.

Spotting one of the friend’s Karlie had introduced her to, she asked the man to let Karlie know she was heading out.

As she didn’t want Karlie to get in trouble for leaving in the borrowed clothes she headed up to get changed. Once out of her costume she started to feel herself. Started to recall that she was not someone who wanted to fall in love. Betty Davis might have been someone who got jealous, who felt lonely, but Taylor Swift knew she was better off alone. That she was better off never feeling the sting of love.

At the back exit of the mansion she heard someone call her name as she looked back to find Karlie hurrying towards her.

There was a slight redness to her eyes and her makeup looked to have smeared a little, but she was wearing that brave smile she always had when Greg was around.

‘”Hey, you’re not really leaving without saying goodbye.”

Taylor felt a ball of emotion in her throat as she tried to swallow before choking out, “Sorry. I just--I have other things I have to do today.”

Karlie’s lips fluttered for a moment as if she couldn’t decide which shape she wanted to have them make. Smile. Frown. Grimace.

She settled on a watery smile as she said, “I’m glad you could come.”

There was nothing more to say as Taylor turned to go, pausing as she realized she was still wearing the glasses. She took them off, holding them out to Karlie as she said, “Here.”

The girl shook her head, sliding her fingers over Taylor’s hand as she pushed the glasses back to her, “No. Keep them. They are for you. Whenever you just need a break.”

The gold on Karlie’s back seemed brighter, like it was screaming “Notice me!”

She put the glasses back on.

“Thanks. They’re really nice.”

Karlie lifted her hand in a parting wave as Taylor exited.

At the road she stopped to look back, finding Karlie to still be watching her from the doorway. Each time Taylor paused to look back she was there, as if she did not want to leave. As if she hoped by staying Taylor might come back to her.

But that was just the lingering emotions of Betty Davis’ heart.

Taylor knew that Karlie’s love belonged to another.

When she could no longer see Karlie she stopped again, feeling like a hole had been left in her heart.

Did Karlie feel the same loss? Did she also linger in hopes that she might see Taylor one last time?

Shaking her head she turned away for the final time as she got into her car.

Karlie had Greg. He was the one her heart longed to see. The one she waited for. He was the one she loved with all her heart and Taylor had decided long ago that love was not for her.

People might change, but her heart was set in stone.

Cold.

Immovable.

And so incredibly lonely. 


	3. Chapter 3

Taylor decided she had not given Greg a chance. She had judged him from the first moment she’d met him because…because of something she was not ready to admit.

Jealousy.

When she met with him he was alone, sitting in the same coffee shop where she’d had her first meeting with Karlie.

Unlike his fiancée he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else as he stirred at his coffee with agitation.

“I know you and Karlie insist this is for the best, but I don’t see the point. We’ve both already made the decision to get married. Do we really need to prove to you that we’re ready?”

Taylor felt her jaw flex with agitation as she took a moment to cool down, “You’re not proving anything to me. I just want you both to take time to consider if this is what you really want.”

He let out a sigh that bordered on a growl, “Of course we do, or we wouldn’t have come to see you about cutting my string.”

Taylor licked her lips before scraping her teeth along them, anything to keep her from blurting out her actual feelings to the man.

_“You don’t deserve her.”_

Instead she told him, “I once cut the string of a man who had lost his soul mate at a young age. Though he insisted he’d moved on from her and was ready to love a new woman, years later I learned things hadn’t worked out. And because he wasn’t actually ready she is left alone now, forever separated from her actual soul mate.”

She could tell Greg wanted to roll his eyes but stopped midway as he hid the action by making it seem like he was only shifting his gaze off to the side. But she could tell by the way he exhaled that he did not care about her story.

Her hands gripped the sides of her jeans as she felt her fist shake with emotion.

Was it really only choices that had broken Jodi’s relationship, or the fact that she’d been blind to her fiancé’s flaws?

Even after giving him this chance, Taylor couldn’t see what Karlie liked about this Greg guy. It seemed to her that Karlie’s love for the man had blinded her to his bland nature and apathy.

Taking a breath, she reminded herself she was probably viewing him through jaded lenses.

“What is it that you love about Karlie?”

His head shook slightly like he didn’t want to do any of this, but instead of leaving he adjusted his jacket as he took in a slow breath, “Uh, I guess...she’s beautiful.”

Understatement.

Karlie was beyond gorgeous.

Otherworldly even. An Elven maiden with a face perfectly sculpted like Pygmalion himself had designed her.

There was no way she was mortal with the way her eyes glowed like two blue flames. Flames which danced whenever she laughed. And she had such a good laugh. One that made spring bloom in people’s chests whenever they heard it. The kind of laugh that drew you in and made you a part of the joy she felt.

And she was always trying to share that joy.

Every time Taylor met with her, Karlie had some new story or anecdote to share. Taylor could always tell when she had a story to tell by the way the corner of her mouth angled up coquettishly like she had a secret she wanted to share with you alone.

Selfishly she wished that Karlie would keep all those secrets for her alone. That she would save all her best stories and jokes for when it was just the two of them.

But Karlie’s wasn’t hers to have and to hold.

“Her beauty was the first thing you noticed about her?”

Greg nodded.

“And after that? What kept you coming back to her?”

He looked confused by the question as Taylor was lost in her own reason.

Karlie had the kind of personality that lit up a room. Even strangers wanted a chance to be in the same proximity as her. Taylor had noticed this every time they’d gone out together. At the grocery store people would approach Karlie to ask her opinion on various items like she was a spokesperson for the product. And Karlie would politely give her answer, holding a conversation with the person as long as they needed.

Kids loved Karlie. They would peer up at the 6’2” giraffe in wonder. Taylor understood the feeling as she also found herself gazing up at Karlie like she was the sun in the sky.

Radiant.

Warm.

Magic.

It wasn’t something Karlie had to try hard at being but something she was. The kind of person that would kneel down to a child’s level in order to hear their question. The kind of person who would make silly faces on the subway in order to make baby’s laugh.

Taylor smiled as she recalled Karlie’s silly faces. Sticking out her tongue as she squinted her eyes. Or her awkward smile, the one you wore when your friend said smile before snapping an image of you while you were doing something you didn’t want recorded.

“She’s better at remembering things,” stated Greg, sounding like a crew of writers at the end of a long day when they’d already spent hours coming up with ideas and were now scraping the barrel for scene ideas.

“What’s your favorite part of her?”

As he racked his brain for other half-thought out answers Taylor rested her chin on her hand as she let out a dreamer’s sigh.

Though she had only known Karlie for a few weeks she could picture Karlie’s face like she’d spent years studying it.

There were so many things she liked about Karlie: her hands, long and slender. Her smile, with its tilt towards mischief. Her adorable nose which looked especially cute when adorned with glasses. But she would have to say, when looking at Karlie’s face, the part that kept drawing Taylor’s eyes back to it was the freckle on her cheek.

Some might call it a blemish on an otherwise perfect face, but Taylor loved Karlie’s face all the more because of it. The first time Taylor had seen the cute little speck she’d mistaken it for a crumb which she’d reached out to brush away. It was because of the freckle Taylor had her first and only excuse to touch Karlie’s face. To run her thumb along the girl’s cheek. To feel the softness of her skin. To feel the flutter of her heart as it whispered a wish to press her lips to the blemish in thanks for its gift.

Now she was upset because she knew she’d never touch that cheek again. “Oh to be a glove on her hand.” Never to brush her thumb across the freckle. Never to know the taste of Karlie’s skin on her lips.

She blinked away the thought as Greg answered, “Her breasts.”

She let out an agitated sigh as the chair scraped behind her as she stood, “Sorry, I lost track of the time. I have to go.”

He looked relieved as he didn’t even stand or give her a goodbye.

Anger burned her cheeks as she headed out into the cold morning air. The winter wind did nothing to cool the fire in her chest.

She shouldn’t be feeling this way. But it angered her how hard it was for Greg to voice his feelings for Karlie. It should have been easy. What should have been hard was getting him to shut up about her. To stop him from listing the ways in which he loved her.

Wasn’t that the whole point of Shakespeare’s 18th Sonnet, putting his affections for the love of his life onto the page? Putting it all down on the page so he’d have room for more reasons to love them. While Shakespeare wrote of a love that had made his heart strings thrill, Greg seemed to be playing his feelings from an entirely different instrument. A trumpet, or a flute.

“Taylor?”

She turned, half expecting to find Greg had followed her. But it was not Greg, but Jodi.

It took her brain a moment to process the unexpected encounter as she repeated the woman’s name aloud, “Jodi?”

How long had it been since she’d last seen the woman? Since she’d learned about her failed marriage.

Though she was sure the woman must be miserable, she looked bright as she told Taylor, “I found my soul mate.”

She was thrown off by the declaration as all she could manage was to let out a flat, “Um…”

Seeing she didn’t know how to react, Jodi told her, “I mean my actual soul mate.”

Taylor’s eyes widened, “How—how do you know?”

Though Taylor had cut the woman’s string years ago, Jodi informed her it had grown back.

“I visited a String Seer with a friend and after she’d had her string read the woman asked me if I wanted mine read. I was confused as I knew you’d severed mine, but the woman insisted I still had it. I went to another Seer just to make sure, but she said the same thing. Somehow, someway it had come back.”

Taylor removed the glasses Karlie had gifted her. It had become a habit to wear them, seeing other’s strings had become especially grating to her nerves of late. But there it was, Jodi’s string, just as she’d said. It looked a little frazzled, frayed, but it was back like it had just needed time to regrow.

“But…how?”

Jodi wasn’t sure herself. “Last time we met I told you I was fine not having a soul mate. I love my daughter and she is the best part of my life. I don’t know if it was my love for her that helped my love regrow, but when I saw that string Seer it was back. And with it back I was able to find my soul mate.”

She told Taylor about the man and how they had faced some difficulties since meeting.

“I don’t know if that’s because of our strings having been broken, or if we would have faced problems regardless. But I know that love’s not never having differences, or problems, it’s about caring for one another despite those hard times. It’s about choosing to love each other in spite of those struggles.”

The woman’s words reminded Taylor something her mother had told her, “That’s the problem with your father and me. We stopped choosing to love each other. It’s not fate that connects us. It might have been the thing to bring us together, but it was love that kept us together. The choice to keep loving. To keep that bond going on. To stay connected in spite of the things that could tear us apart. Love is the choice to stay.”

As far as Taylor knew, Jodi was her only client to have her string grow back. Even Taylor’s parents hadn’t regrown their strings. But maybe that was the different between Jodi and her parents; Jodi had chosen to love again. To let her heart open to the possibility of love outside that of a parent.

As she thought this she realized that if there was a chance of one person’s string growing back there was a chance that Greg’s string could grow back after she cut it. And if that happened Karlie would be left alone.

“Mike, that’s my husband,” Taylor realized Jodi was still talking as she listened to her say, “he says that sometimes other people’s choices affect us and not for good. A lot of times we don’t have any choice in how other people’s choices affect us. But we do have a choice how we react to their decisions. We have a choice if we will let it break us, or if we will grow stronger. If we will let it be our end, or if we will let it be a new beginning for us.

“That was how he chose to deal with things when he realized I’d chosen to sever our connection. Instead of wallowing in the sadness of never finding anyone, he formed stronger connections with his friends and family.”

After Jodi, Taylor had never cut anyone else’s string without knowing the person on the other end was okay with it. She did not want to risk severing the one thing that might have been a person’s reason for living.

Though it wasn’t healthy to put your reason for living on a person, she understood how hard life could be and how during hard times the thought of having someone out there that was meant for you was the only thing that kept you going.

This thought hit her hard as she realized Greg had a person like that attached to him. Their connection with Greg, no matter how bland he might appear to Taylor, might have been the only thing getting them through the day and she was possibly going to sever that without their permission.

Without their permission.

She repeated the words in her mind as she realized she couldn’t do it.

No matter how much Karlie and Greg claimed they loved one another, there was one more person who had a right to weigh in on this union. And if it meant saving Karlie heartache down the road that was just a bonus.


	4. Chapter 4

This was all a mess.

A mess she wouldn’t be in the middle of if she’d never agreed to cutting Karlie’s fiancé’s string. But she had and now she was adding to the chaos by suggesting to Karlie that they find and bring in Greg’s soul mate.

“I just can’t do this in good conscience without giving Greg’s soul mate a chance to make their case. To check their mental health and make sure this severing won’t cause them harm. And to make sure that the string doesn’t have a chance of growing back.”

Karlie frowned, “Growing back?”

Taylor nodded, “It’s only happened once, but the possibility is there. I don’t want you to end up getting a few weeks into your marriage and having Greg decide he doesn’t love you anymore. Or worse, five years down the line finding his string has grown back when he leaves you to be with this other person.”

“Greg wouldn’t do that,” though she said it in defense of her fiancé it sounded to Taylor like it was more to convince herself.

Greg touched Karlie’s hand as he assured her it would be fine, “I only have eyes for you, Karlie. No other woman matters.”

Taylor frowned, feeling doubt as she recalled seeing him eyeing several women’s backsides while they’d been out for coffee together.

Karlie exhaled as she relaxed into the idea, “You’re right, Taylor. I never felt what it was like to have that hope of meeting your soul mate since I didn’t have a string.”

Again the gold behind her seemed to sparkle like a taunting reminder of the mystery that connected Karlie to something.

“But I can understand how it feels to not be connected to someone. If you can find her I would be fine with meeting her.”

Again Taylor wondered if she was doing the wrong thing.

She should just leave Karlie and Greg to figure this out on their own and stop interfering. It was silly of her to think that she could convince Karlie that Greg was not the one for her when she’d only known the woman for a few weeks. Karlie had years with Greg, she should know best if he was the one for her. And if he was the one that made her happy, out respect for her wishes, Taylor should let it go.

Even if it meant losing Karlie.

  
  


Taylor found Greg’s soul mate and invited them to her office.

  
  


Taylor wasn’t there for the meeting between Greg, Karlie, and Greg’s soulmate. Her name was Jessica. But afterwards Karlie called her up to let her know that Greg still wanted to go through with the marriage.

Taylor wanted to object. To remind her that one meeting wasn’t going to be enough to tell Greg that Jessica was not the person he actually wanted to spend his life with. But then, she’d decided her feelings for Karlie after only one coffee date.

Love was strange.

And confusing.

“We’re going to make it work,” stated Karlie cheerily, while Taylor’s heart shriveled up in her chest, “He chose me and I choose him. Thank you for all your help, Taylor. You will be coming to the wedding, won’t you?”

“I’ll have to check my schedule.”

Taylor made a note to call Karlie a week before the wedding to let her know she’d be out of town for business. There was no way she was going to the wedding.

“Are…are you sure that Greg is the one for you? You don’t…you don’t think that there might be someone better out there for you.”

Karlie laughed like she actually thought Taylor’s question was a joke.

“I love Greg. Sure, I’ve had feelings for people in the past, but none of them felt like the way I do for Greg.”

“But what if…what if down the line you meet someone you feel a stronger connection with. What if Greg runs into Jessica again and they hit it off? What if he leaves you?”

The cheer in Karlie’s voice as gone as she replied, “Thank you for worrying about me, Taylor. But I like to think Greg and my love for each other is stronger than that. We’ve both chosen each other over anyone else all these years together and I don’t see that changing down the line.”

“But what if it does?”

The line rumbled as Karlie let out an exasperated sigh, “I know you are just trying to help, that you’ve seen some bad stuff in the past, but I believe fate is what you make of it. And I’m choosing Greg as my destiny. I know you think that love is a lost cause and that it only hurts people, but I see love as a beautiful thing.”

The line went quiet for a moment before Karlie spoke again, her voice quiet, “I hope one day you find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. Someone who can make you see love the way I do.”

The line went dead as Taylor felt her feelings in her throat.

Karlie did not have to wish for her to find love, she already had, but it had chosen someone else. 


	5. Chapter 5

A month later Taylor received her reminder e-mail about the upcoming nuptials.

Just seeing Karlie’s name on the e-mail header made her want to cry. Made her want to scream and run down the street straight to the wedding hall where she’d burst in just as the priest asked if anyone objected.

“I object. I object. He does not in any way love her as much as I do!!”

But that was ridiculous.

And it was wrong.

Karlie had made her decision. She loved Greg and no amount of fit throwing from Taylor was going to change any of that.

  
  


She sent her planned e-mail about not being able to make it due to a big job out of town.

Karlie did not send a reply. 

___

The week that she was supposed to be out of town she met up with her friend Brie. Brie was the daughter of the Seer Taylor had visited when she’d cut her parents strings. The two had met that day and stayed in contact ever since.

That day Brie noticed Taylor displaying a new level of ennui as she inquired what was wrong.

Though she didn’t want to say anything, she finally admitted her feelings for the soon to be bride with the mysterious golden string on her back.

Brie frowned, looking at Taylor for a moment before repeating, “She had a golden string on her back. Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’d never seen such a thing. And I still don’t know what it means.”

She was startled as Brie slapped her hands down on the table, “It means she is your soul mate.”

Taylor’s brows knit up like she thought the woman was being weird, ‘What?”

Brie’s head bobbed with a nod, “Yeah. When my mom met my dad he a golden string hanging from his back.”

Taylor remained nonplussed as she took a bite of her pasta salad, ‘I thought Seers didn’t have soul mates. Fate cursed them to be forever alone, only allowed them to help others find their one true loves.”

Brie’s nose scrunched with disgust, “Where did you hear that, BS?”

Taylor told her about the documentary as at the end of the story her friend let out a disgusted snort.

“I’ve met that Seer. He is full of it. He likes to spout stuff like Seers only being born to help others and how it’s their great purpose in life to,” she made a gagging sound instead of finishing his thoughts as if she thought his words were only word vomit, “But that’s not true. We are also meant to find love. It’s just,” she spun her hands as she searched for the right word, “harder to find them. Unlike everyone else their string doesn’t stretch across the distance between us and them. It’s just a short little golden string that follows them everywhere, waiting for us to pass and take notice of it.”

Taylor forgot about her meal as she set her fork down, leaning in as she asked, “And that’s what your mom saw on your dad’s back?”

Brie nodded, a full smile lighting up her face, “And it’s what you saw on Karlie’s back. She’s your soul mate. You need to stop this wedding.”

While her friend sounded excited at the prospect, Taylor felt herself deflate as she fell back into her chair.

Weakly she shook her sadly, “No. I can’t. I let her go. I made a decision and she made her choice. We picked different paths and I’m not going to force her to leave hers and come after me. I’m going to respect her wishes.”

Brie let out an exasperated sigh. “But she doesn’t know that you are the person she is actually supposed to be with.”

Taylor became more confident of her decision as she picked up her fork again, “It’s our choice not to be with each other. Our choice not to let fate decide who we will end up with. She’s choosing to be with him, contrary to whether or not she has anyone out there for her, and I’m going to respect her wish to take fate into her own hands.”

“But if she knew it was you who she was supposed to be with I know she’d change her mind. From what you’ve told me about this Greg guy he sounds like a total bore.”

Shaking her head again she took another bite of her food.

“I’ve already done enough damage to their relationship; I’m not going to hurt her further.”

Seeing Taylor was done with the conversation, Brie slumped down in her chair as she let out a resigned sigh.

“I don’t know why the fates blessed you with the sight when you are such an anti-romantic.”

Taylor didn’t know either.


	6. Chapter 6

The day of Karlie’s wedding passed without event. Taylor kept herself inside the whole day, miserable and listening to tragic love songs.

She mostly focused on Adele’s works along with a few she’d chosen just to stab the knife in deeper. Songs like Mad Game, which she’d heard at Karlie’s birthday party, and Somebody else by 1975.

The week after Karlie’s wedding Taylor went about her day like a phantom, unsure of what to do with her life now that she knew she’d had love and lost it.

It was while walking down the street in this state of disillusionment, like hovering between the land of the living and the dead, that she spotted a familiar couple coming towards her.

It was two people she recognized, just not together in such an intimate fashion.

She was still in the habit of wearing the sunglasses Karlie had given her; wearing them was like wearing an old scarf that an ex had left at your sister’s house.

She took off the glasses as she instantly spotted the red string hanging between the couple. Greg was smiling, laughing as he related some dead boring story to Jessica, who smiled like it was an informative TED talk.

In the end, Taylor had agreed to sever Greg’s connection to the woman, but there it was like a line of fresh blood hanging between them.

Greg finally spotted her as he looked to be trying to avoid her gaze. Taylor stepped into his path as she made him pay attention to her.

“What is this?”

She pointed to their linked arms as Greg quickly pulled away with a guilty look on his face.

Taylor’s voice was harsh, accusatory as she reminded him, “You said you were choosing Karlie. That you loved her.”

Jessica looked away as if she also felt guilty for their current intimacy.

No. That wasn’t it. She looked like she was embarrassed by the scene Taylor was causing like it wasn’t a big deal what they’d done to Karlie.

But it was a huge deal.

At least to Taylor.

“Listen,” started Greg as if he was already tired at the prospect of having to explain anything to her, “Karlie and I parted on good terms. We both realized we weren’t meant to be. We called off the wedding together and we’re both doing fine. She’s even off enjoying herself on our honeymoon by herself.”

Taylor heard herself ask where it was that Karlie had gone, which Greg informed her wasn’t any of her business. That’s when she threatened to cut his and Jessica’s string again and again until there was nothing but tatters left.

“And then you’ll never find love ever again.”

Greg went pale, vacillating for a moment on calling her bluff and believing she did have that ability. In the end he texted her all the details she’d need to find Karlie. 

___

From the airport in Tokyo she took a taxi to the hotel where Karlie was supposed to be staying. The lady at reception informed her that Karlie was out “walking the city.”

Of course she only told Taylor this after she used her abilities to inform the receptionist that the concierge was in fact, not her soul mate.

“Him and the busboy have a connection.”

Though miffed by the truth, the receptionist also let Taylor know the general area that Karlie had mentioned she would be visiting.

While Taylor’s head told her to just wait at the hotel till Karlie got back, her heart made her run down the street towards the area where Karlie might be.

Through the mass of bodies she searched for the tall form that was Karlie, but through the sea of faces she did not see the one her heart longed to see.

“Karlie! Karlie!”

It was ludicrous. There was no way Karlie would hear her over the hustle and bustle of the city.

People stared at her like she had lost her mind. And maybe she had. She didn’t care.

Screw fate.

Screw propriety.

She was in love and she didn’t care who knew.

“KARLIE!”

Okay, she did care. But only about one person.

“Karlie!”

“Taylor?”

The confused voice came from behind her as she spun around, almost going full circle before she spotted her face.

“Karlie!”

She looked confused, happy but confused, as Taylor waded through the crowd to meet her halfway.

‘What are you doing here?”

Taylor felt breathless as she struggled to remember what she had wanted to say once she was standing in the brightness of Karlie’s smile. She had forgotten how bright it was. How beautiful.

Let me count the ways…

“I know you told me that you chose Greg, but like Darcy in Pride and Prejudice I just have to hear it one more time. Just once more tell me you want him and I’ll never bring it up again. I’ll leave you alone.”

Her pulse pounded in her ears, louder than the sounds of the city as she waited to feel the sharp pain of rejection.

Instead of a sharp stab to the chest she felt the soft press of Karlie’s lips against her own, followed by Karlie’s smile as the two pulled apart.

“I don’t want Greg,” Karlie also sounded breathless as she said, “I’m sorry I was so stubborn about that, but I realized three days ago that it wasn’t him that I wanted.” She bit her lip, looking shy as she admitted, “You may not realize this, but we’re tied together, you and I.”

Behind her, the golden string sparkled like a million little stars falling into place. Taylor smiled as she brought her eyes back to Karlie’s.

“Trust me, I know.”

With that the two kissed again, two glowing strings of gold in a sea of red.


	7. epilogue

Taylor retired from being a String Seer and started a career in writing children’s books. She mostly focused on picture books that taught kids about fate and how it was more important to choose your own course in life than to let a string decide it for you. In her stories she encouraged kids to take destiny into their own hands and not make finding their soul mate the sole purpose of their life.

After her first three books became best sellers she wrote a story about a raven and a peacock and their unlikely friendship.

Karlie smiled as she set down the final mockup of the book, “This raven and peacock seem awfully familiar. Do I know them?”

Taylor smiled as she slid into the spot next to Karlie on the couch. It was a brand new couch they had recently purchased. The very same couch Taylor had pointed out to Karlie in the magazine they’d been looking out during one of their Seer sessions.

Now instead of dreaming about cuddling together on the sofa, Taylor could actually do it as she leaned in, planting a soft kiss on that blessed freckle.

“Personally? You might have run into them once at a party.”

Karlie’s eyes drifted up as she tapped her chin thoughtfully, “A party? Now that does ring a bell.”

Taylor slid her hands around Karlie’s waist as she pulled her in close as she nuzzled the crook of her neck, “You remember. The one where you wore that provocative dress.”

Karlie let out a light laugh, her body squirming as she found Taylor’s lips tickled her skin, “Provocative? Now what would make you say that?”

Taylor lifted her eyes, noting the twinkle in Karlie’s eyes. “You know very well what you were trying to do with that dress. Who were you trying to seduce, Ms. Kloss?”

The woman’s lips pressed together as she actually blushed. Taylor leaned back, giving her full attention as she repeated, “What were you hoping to accomplish by wearing that?”

Karlie averted her eyes guiltily.

She reached up, turning Karlie’s chin so she had to look at her, “Karlie?”

The girl let out a long slow sigh as she continued to avert her gaze from Taylor, “I…Okay, I was planning on wearing something else that week. But then I saw that dress and I just…I…I wanted to see how you’d react seeing me in it.”

“Me? Not Greg, your fiancé at the time.”

Karlie bit her lip, not confirming but not denying it either.

Taylor’s eyes widened, “Were you—were you trying to seduce me with that dress?”

Karlie dropped her face into her hands as she shook her head, “I don’t know. I just—I just got really excited thinking about you seeing me in it.”

Taylor gasped, feigning surprise as she touched her chest, “Miss Kloss, are you telling me that you only bought that dress with the hopes that I would be the one to take it off?”

She saw the woman’s face redden before Karlie covered it with a pillow that muffled her reply.

Taylor pulled the pillow away from her face, “What was that?”

Karlie looked sheepish as her shoulders hovered near her ears, “Maybe.”

Taylor blinked, then blinked again as her mind flashed back to that night.

Had there really been signs that night of Karlie’s hidden desire? Signs she’d missed.

Karlie had stayed by her side the entire night. And she had seemed to take Taylor’s hand at every opportunity like she wasn’t able to keep her hands to herself.

“Did,” Taylor paused as she licked her lips, her mind spinning, unable to completely believe what she was hearing, “Did you really want to end up leaving the party with me that night?”

Karlie’s eyes dropped to her lap as she wrung her hands, “I—I don’t know. By that point I’d started to feel a mixture of confusing emotions when it came to you. I’m not really sure what I wanted back then. But now,” she lifted her eyes, peering at Taylor through a curtain of lashes, “now I know what I want.”

Taylor moved in closer so they were practically sitting on one another as she reached up to brush back a strand of hair behind Karlie’s ear. Her voice was soft as she asked, “What do you want?”

Karlie leaned into her, sliding her hands around Taylor’s waist as she rested her head against her chest. “I want you. Always and forever.”

Taylor smiled, resting her cheek on the top of Karlie’s head, “Funny, that’s exactly how the story of Raven and Peacock ends. ‘And they lived together forever and always, the best of friends.’”

Karlie turned her face so that she was looking up at Taylor, “I’d like that too. But more than friends.”

Taylor smiled as she leaned down to plant a soft kiss on Karlie’s forehead. “Of course. Best friends.”

Karlie laughed, “More than that.”

“Roommates.”

Karlie gasped, “And they were roommates.”

They laughed together before shifting their bodies so they were comfortably cuddling on the couch. This was enough.

Just this.

Together with each other. Whether by fate or something else. This was perfect.

  
  


Forever together.

Always. Forever.

Happy to be with you.

End

**Author's Note:**

> (note: I know that’s not the actual lyrics to the song, but it’s what I always heard till I looked it up, so just pretend in this world that is how the song goes.)


End file.
